Australian SKA Consortium workshop on energy solutions for next generation radio telescopes
On Wednesday 10 September, ATNF hosted the "Energy Solutions for Next Generation Radio Telescopes" workshop, held in conjunction with the quarterly Australian SKA Consortium Committee meeting. The workshop gathered together power systems experts and other interested people to discuss ways of providing power at the Australian sites proposed for the next generation Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescopes. Both SKA and LOFAR need to operate in radio-quiet areas, which, by definition, are remote areas with low population density. The challenge is to find ways to provide power for these telescopes in such remote areas. This is a key issue in the Australian bid to host these telescopes.
The meeting opened with a welcome from ATNF Business Development manager, Dr Carole Jackson, an outline of the scientific objectives of SKA and LOFAR from ATNF Director, Professor Brian Boyle and an overview of the engineering and energy requirements of these telescopes from International SKA Engineering Management Team chair, Dr Peter Hall. This was followed by a few suggestions for discussion on collaborative projects from ATNF SKA and LOFAR Strategic Support scientist, Dr George Warr.
CSIRO Energy Technology Renewable Energy Business Development manager, Dr Wes Stein, gave a review of fossil and renewable power generation methods. Covered were grid connected, coal, gas, diesel, hydro, biomass, wind, solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, geothermal and ocean wave power generation. Some of these, such as hydro, were not suitable to the proposed sites for the telescopes. Others, such as biomass, could potentially be used for co-generation to supply power to the core of the telescopes, where the energy requirements are highest, and provide power to the grid or other nearby facilities. It was noted, however, that it was more likely that dedicated systems would be used. For the more remote stations of the telescopes, solar, wind and battery with diesel backup systems were proposed. Wes concluded by noting that the telescopes had the opportunity to provide world-leading demonstrations of energy sustainability without compromising their primary radio-astronomy goals.
Several presentations were given by industry and university representatives. Presentations by Connell Wagner Pacific Power International Senior engineer, Tony Sproule, Norman, Disney and Young Director, Ashak Nathwani and GridComm Senior engineer Frank Mullins outlined their company's broad range of experience in power provision systems and power demand minimization strategies, such as the use of passive cooling systems and active climate control systems using the ground as a heat source and sink. UNSW Associate Professor Michael Ashley outlined their experience with remote power, control and monitoring systems in Antarctica and suggested ways that this may be applied to LOFAR and SKA. University of Sydney Principal Research Fellow and Solar Heat and Power chairman, Dr David Mills gave an overview of solar thermal power generation and its potential low-cost application to the telescopes. David noted that dramatic cost reductions could be made if thermal energy storage can be used and pointed out that solar energy is potentially one of Australia's most abundant energy sources.
The workshop finished with an open discussion session, led by Dr Carole Jackson. A wide range of issues were raised, such as the radio-quiet requirements of the power generation and distribution system, the potential use of hydrogen fuel cells for energy storage, the possibility of using super capacitors to meet peak power demands when rapidly slewing antennas, maintenance and upgradeability issues and the need for environmental monitoring and system modelling to design the power supplies.
Since the meeting, we have contacted the participants to find out if they would like to contribute to a White Paper, which will outline possible power supply systems for the Australian SKA and LOFAR sites, and to a demonstrator that will show such a power system for a LOFAR-scale remote station. We have had an enthusiastic response and are now planning the next steps towards these goals.
If you are interested in finding out more about the workshop and ongoing activities in this area we invite you to visit the nascent Australian SKA Consortium Energy Working Group website at askac.atnf.csiro.au/groups/energy
George "Nyima" Warr, Peter Hall and Carole Jackson
(George.Warr@csiro.au)